Menu

Kashmir: In search of peace

BEHAVIOR of all the mainstream political parties in Kashmir from the past has been unjust to the people of Kashmir and to the political understanding of the region among the outsiders. We as a community have failed to convey to the rest of the world one single voice. Our voices have remained divided on sectarian lines and numerous varying political perceptions, thereby rendering our voices ineffective, a situation which has always been notoriously exploited by the Indian media.
Our perception of our own situation has been influenced by the media so much so that often times we tend to act as such even though we Kashmiris share the same sentiment and objective i.e. this bloodshed should stop so that we may live. We want to live in peace that has long eluded us. However, we are aware of the fact that our leaderships have been disappointed and taken for a ride every time they put their trust in the successive chameleonic Indian governments, an attitude which is just as detrimental for their own nation.
The current government at Delhi has been ruling the nation in a dictatorial manner engaging in absolute fascist Hindutva strategies to establish the far right saffron doctrine. Their intentions and actions have always been to interpolate and dismantle secular democratic core of the Indian constitution.
Our leadership is targeted every time to dodge the Kashmir issue by involving them in heinous inhuman crimes which they unwillingly do to please the center for their short term vision of ruling the state. After every election , elected parties join hands for development and progress of the state leaving the critical issue of KASHMIR CONFLICT aside. Need of the hour is to keep the political parties of present away from the valley so that they cannot sow their evil seed in our pious land. Even PDP joined hands with them and time and again it didn’t yield any output as they drive the force in opposite directions. Before going for fresh elections our mainstream parties should rethink contesting fresh elections before giving us the position of 1965.
A throwback: “Sheikh Abdullah was installed as the first PM of J&K in 1948. Up until 1965, the state’s head was called Sadr-i-Riyasat and the PM Wazir-e-Azam. It still kept the conditional “autonomous” status of J&K going intact at least through titles. The heads of state of J&K and India were, at least on paper if not in terms of “influence.”
The post-Hazratbal relic disappearance era saw the installation of INC figurehead G.M. Sadiq as the PM of J&K. Sadiq promptly wound down the National Conference. A Presidential/court order effectively made New Delhi the lawmaker in J&K during emergency situations. And post Nehru’s death, this erosion of conditional “autonomy” happened further through New Delhi’s takeover of the J&K legislature. This resulted in the status change of the “heads” effective from late March/early April 1965. The PM was now the CM and the first Head of State was now the Governor. In the eyes of New Delhi, the powers that be of J&K were now just like those of Indian states. Propitiation was not needed anymore.”
—Courtesy: Greater Kashmir
[Abid Q. Khan is Manager Accounts – Cisco United Arab Emirates]